And before you can say "damn, there goes more talk about Vlad Tepes", no, I'm not talking about our favorite impaler. In fact, as I learned today, there is no official register in Bram Stoker's writings that he even knew Vlad was an impaler - he knew some things about Romenian history and Vlad, but didn't mention in his writings that this historical figure was his inspiration for Bela Lugosi's alter ego. Historians now claim that Stoker might have based his vampire in a Irish floklore character, the Abhartach. Also referred to as Avartagh (Irish word for dwarf), he is part of an early Irishlegend, which was first collected in Patrick Weston Joyce's The Origin and History of Irish Names of Places (1875). Check out the legend below:"There is a place in the parish of Errigal in Derry, called Slaghtaverty, but it ought to have been called Laghtaverty, the laght or sepulchral monument of the abhartach [avartagh] or dwarf (see p. 61, supra). This dwarf was a magician, and a dreadful tyrant, and after having perpetrated great cruelties on the people he was at last vanquished and slain by a neighbouring chieftain; some say by Fionn Mac Cumhail. He was buried in a standing posture, but the very next day he appeared in his old haunts, more cruel and vigorous than ever. And the chief slew him a second time and buried him as before, but again he escaped from the grave, and spread terror through the whole country. The chief then consulted a druid, and according to his directions, he slew the dwarf a third time, and buried him in the same place, with his head downwards; which subdued his magical power, so that he never again appeared on earth. The laght raised over the dwarf is still there, and you may hear the legend with much detail from the natives of the place, one of whom told it to me."In some versions Abhartach rises from his grave to drink the blood of his subjects, while the chieftain who slays the revenant is named as Cathrain. The hero variously consults an early Christian saint instead of a druid, and is told that Abhartach is one of the "neamh-mairbh", or walking dead, and that he can only be restrained by killing him with a sword made of yew wood, burying him upside down, surrounding his grave with thorns, and placing a large stone on top of the grave. I bet Van Helsing didn't have that much of trouble! According to recent folklore, Abhartach's grave is now known as Slaghtaverty Dolmen, and is locally referred to as "The Giant’s Grave". It comprises a large rock and two smaller rocks under a hawthorn.

A study published recently in Nature claims that Skeletal remains from a 7,000 year old Spaniard have been genetically sequenced and suggests that the evolutionary onset of light-colored eyes predates light skin.The remains were discovered in northwestern Spain at the La Braña-Arintero site. The skeleton belonged to a man from the Mesolithic Period who has been dubbed La Braña 1. One of his teeth yielded enough DNA to complete a genetic analysis. The results gave important clues about the evolution of appearance in the region. Though the height and approximate age at time of death were not released, the researchers were able to determine that La Braña 1 did not look quite how they expected. His dark hair and dark skin were not unusual, but he likely had light eyes which was very unusual for this time period. The exact shade of his eyes could not be determined, but it was clear to the researchers that they were not brown. This could very well mean that light eyes made their evolutionary debut before light skin.Another male skeleton, named La Braña 2, was also discovered by the team in 2006. Unfortunately, the DNA was not as well preserved in this second individual, which is making it difficult for the researchers to sequence. They are currently working to restore the genome and provide more information about what the earliest Europeans looked like during the Mesolithic Period.Another male skeleton, named La Braña 2, was also discovered by the team in 2006. Unfortunately, the DNA was not as well preserved in this second individual, which is making it difficult for the researchers to sequence. They are currently working to restore the genome and provide more information about what the earliest Europeans looked like during the Mesolithic Period. - See more at: http://www.iflscience.com/plants-and-animals/genetic-analysis-reveals-blue-eyes-evolved-light-skin#sthash.cBg5HHIt.dpuf

One of the enchanted mouras by an unknown artist (Image found on Google)

Time to catch up with some Portuguese folklore!The "moura encantada" is a supernatural being from the fairy tales of Portuguese and Galician folklore. She often appears singing and combing her beautiful long hair, golden as gold or black as the night with a golden comb, and promises to give treasures to whom sets her free by breaking her spell. (In Galicia, though, they are more commonly redheads). According to some authors, mouras encantadas are “beings compelled by an occult power to live on a certain state of siege as if they were numb or asleep, insofar as a particular circumstance does not break their spell”.According to ancient lore, they are the souls of young maidens who were left guarding the treasures that the mouros encantados (enchanted mouros) hid before heading to the Mourama. The legends describe the mouras encantadas as young maidens of great beauty or as charming princesses who are "dangerously seductive". The mouras encantadas are shapeshifters and there are a number of legends, and versions of the same legend, as a result of centuries of oral tradition. They appear as guardians of the pathways into the earth and of the "limit" frontiers where it was believed that the supernatural could manifest itself.Mouras encantadas are magical maidens who guard castles, caves, bridges, wells, rivers, and treasures. There is a possibility that the mouras encantadas may have had assimilated the characteristics of local deities, such as nymphs and spirits of nature. They are also referred to as "feminine water genies". The tales of the mouras are part of a wider lore of the "mouros encantados", who some times appear as giants or warriors, which also include the mourinhos or maruxinhos, a very small elf like people who live under the ground. These fairy tales featuring Mouras Encantadas are thought to be of pre-Roman, Indo-EuropeanCeltic origin. They are related to other Indo-European, and especially Celtic, female divinities of the water. Almost every Portuguese or Galician town has a tale of a Moura Encantada. The lore of the mouros encantados is used to find prehistoric monuments and was for some time used in the 19th century as the main method to locate lusitanian archaeological «monuments», a kind of folk memory that was erased with the Christianization. The mouras are also believed to be builders of ancient monuments. Some variants of the generic "moura encantada" include:

Princesa moura - She appears as a snake with long blond hair. In some fairy tales, the beings are beautiful muslim princesses (princesa moura) who live in castles at the time of the Reconquest, and fall in love with a Portuguese Christian knight. In other fairy tales, a moura encantada lives in a castle under the earth and falls in love with a Moor instead of the Christian knight. These two variations are found only in Portugal. Many of these legends try to explain the origins of a city or invoke historical characters, other legends present a religious context. In the historical context, these places, people and events are situated in the real world and in a specific time frame. It is believed that real historic facts have merged with old legend narrations.

Moura-fiandeira - In other variants, the moura encantada is a Spinning maiden Moura (Moura-fiandeira), who carries stones on her head to build the hill forts while she spins the yarns with a Distaff that she carries at her waist. The mouras encantadas were believed to be the builders of the Paleolithic hill forts, the dolmens, and the megaliths. They are believed to still live there. The ancient coins found on the hill forts were called "medals of the mouros". The Pedra Formosa found on Citânia de Briteiros was, according to folklore, brought to this place by a moura who carried it on her head while she was spinning with a spindle. They are also night weavers, but only the sound of weaving can be heard in the night.

Pedra-Moura - mouras encantadas who lived inside stones are named pedra-moura. It was believed that who ever sat on one of these stones would become enchanted, or, that if any enchanted stone was taken to a house, all the animals in the house could die. It was also believed that pedras mouras had enchanted treasures inside them. There are several legends where the moura instead of being a stone lives inside the stone. In Portuguese lore it is said that you can walk into or walk out of certain rocks, possibly related to the moura legends. The moura is, also, described as traveling to the “mourama” (an enchanted place) while sitting on a stone that can float in the air or water. Inside caves, under rocks and under the earth many legends say there exist palaces with treasures. According to Thurnwald (cited in McKenna, 1938), it was not uncommon among the people of pre-roman Iberian Peninsula to believe that the souls of the dead dwell in certain rocks. The "almas dos mouros" or "alminhas dos mouros" (souls or little souls of the mouros) was the name given to the votive aras, being "alminhas" the common name for the Wayside shrine.

Moura-serpente - In some tales, the moura encantada is a shapeshifter who takes the form of a snake or cobra (Moura-cobra) (some times of a dog (cão), goat (cabra) or horse (cavalo)). These moura snake may have wings and can appear as half woman and half animal and like to be offered milk.

Moura-Mãe - In some tales she is called mother-moura and takes the form of a charming young lady who is pregnant, and the narrative focuses on the search for a midwife to help at the birth and the reward that is given to the person who is willing to help.

Moura-Velha- The moura-velha is an old woman; the legends where she appears with the shape of an old woman are no longer very frequent.

Moura-lavadeira - she is a washerwoman but she is only seen putting white clothes out in the sun, contrary to the Lavandières who wash blooded stained clothes, the mouras are more like the lavadeiras.

The inner planets. From left to right: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars and terrestrial dwarf planet, Ceres [sizes to scale] (Image found on Wikipedia)

I must have learned this some time back in my life, but completely forgot it. So, the explanation for this "simple" question is: the "minimum energy" concept. It states that the sphere is the most stable of all geometric shapes found in nature and, because of that, the particles need less energy to achieve that format. What makes it so stable is that it is the only shape where all superficial points are equally far from the center and, for planets, this is vital. Since they're bodies with an enormous amount of mass, they have a very strong gravitational field, which sucks everything to its center. That way, the spherical shape is the only one who can guarantee that everything that lies on the surface won't be sucked to the center of the planet because of the gravity. Oh, and as many know, planets aren't perfect spheres - that much I remembered. The distortion on their original shape happens because of the revolution movement, which flattens the poles.

Daoine Sidhe, one of the many types of Aos Sí, by Werdandi (Image found on Deviantart)

The aos sí, "ees shee",aes sídhe, "ays sheeth-uh" or Sidhe is the Irish term for a supernatural race in Irish and Scottish mythologies, (usually spelled Sìth, however pronounced the same) comparable to the fairies or elves. They are said to live underground in fairy mounds, across the western sea, or in an invisible world that coexists with the world of humans. This world is described in literature as a parallel universe in which the aos sí walk amongst the living. In the Irish language, aos sí means "people of the mounds" (the mounds are known in Irish as "the sídhe"). In Irish literature the people of the mounds are also called daoine sídhe; in Scottish mythology they are daoine sìth. They are variously said to be the ancestors, the spirits of nature, or goddesses and gods. In many Gaelic tales, however, the aos sí are later, literary versions of the Tuatha Dé Danann ("People of the Goddess Danu") – remember them? Some sources describe them as the survivors of the Tuatha Dé Danann who retreated into the Otherworld after they were defeated by the Milesians – the mortal Sons of Míl Espáine who, like many other early invaders of Ireland, came from Iberia. Geoffrey Keating, an Irish historian of the late 17th century, equates Iberia with the Land of the Dead.In folk belief and practice, the aos sí are often appeased with offerings, and care is taken to avoid angering or insulting them. Often they are not named directly, but rather spoken of as "The Good Neighbors", "The Fair Folk", or simply "The Folk". The most common names for them, aos sí, aes sídhe, daoine sídhe (singular duine sídhe) and daoine sìth mean, literally, "people of the mounds" (referring to the sidhe). The aos sí are generally described as stunningly beautiful, though they can also be terrible and hideous. They are sometimes seen as fierce guardians of their abodes – whether a fairy hill, a fairy ring, a special tree (often a hawthorn) or a particular loch or wood. The Gaelic Otherworld is seen as closer at the times of dusk and dawn, therefore this is a special time to the aos sí, as are some festivals such as Samhain, Beltane and Midsummer.As part of the terms of their surrender to the Milesians the Tuatha Dé Danann agreed to retreat and dwell underground in the sídhe (modern Irish: sí; Scottish Gaelic: sìth; Old Irish síde, singular síd), the hills or earthen mounds that dot the Irish landscape. In some later poetry each tribe of the Tuatha Dé Danann was given its own mound. In a number of later English language texts the word sídhe is used both for the mounds and the people of the mounds. However sidh in older texts refers specifically to "the palaces, courts, halls or residences" of the ghostly beings that, according to Gaedhelic mythology, inhabit them. The fact that many of these sídhe have been found to be ancient burial mounds has contributed to the theory that the aos sí were the pre-Celtic occupants of Ireland. "The Book of Invasions", "The Annals of the Four Masters", and oral history support this view. The story of the Aes Sídhe is found all over Scotland and Ireland, many tales referring to how the Norse invaders drove Scottish inhabitants underground to live in the hills. This part of the legend contributes to the Changeling myth in west European folklore. There are many types of Sidhe, and some of them are relatively famous, as in the case of the Banshee or bean sídhe, which means "woman of the sídhe", has come to indicate any supernatural women of Ireland who announce a coming death by wailing and keening. Her counterpart in Scottish mythology is the bean sìth (sometimes spelled bean-sìdh).Other varieties of aos sí and daoine sìth include the Scottish bean nighe: the washerwoman who is seen washing the bloody clothing or armour of the person who is doomed to die (I wrote about them here); the leanan sídhe: the "fairy lover"; the Cat Sìth: a fairy cat; and the Cù Sìth: fairy dog. The sluagh sídhe — "the fairy host" — is sometimes depicted in Irish and Scottish lore as a crowd of airborne spirits, perhaps the cursed, evil or restless dead. The siabhra (anglicised as "sheevra"), may be a type of these lesser spirits, prone to evil and mischief. However an Ulster folk song also uses "sheevra" simply to mean "spirit" or "fairy".

King Arthur of Britain, by Howard Pyle from The Story of King Arthur and His Knights, 1903 (Image found on Google)

One of Britain's Thirteen Treasures, King Arthur's llen or mantle is said to make anyone underneath it invisible, though able to see out (Harry Potter, anyone?). This item is known from two sources, the prose tales Culhwch and Olwen (c. 1100) and The Dream of Rhonabwy (early 13th century). In Culhwch Arthur's mantle is included in the list of the only things Arthur will not give to the protagonist Culhwch, but it is not named specifically or otherwise described. However, the names of several of the other items contain the element gwyn, meaning "white; sacred; blessed", suggesting otherworldly connections for the whole list. In The Dream of Rhonabwy, the mantle is specifically named Gwenn, and has properties analogous to those given in the lists of the Thirteen Treasures, though here it is those on top of the mantle who are made invisible.

The alledged Stone of Destiny, one of the four treasures from the Tuatha dé Dannan (Photo by Przemysław Sakrajda)

The four treasures (or jewels) of the Tuatha Dé Danann are four magical items which the mythological folk are supposed to have brought with them from the four island cities Murias, Falias, Gorias and Findias, when they arrived in Ireland. From Falias came the Stone of Fál (Lia Fáil), which served as a coronation stone and would cry beneath the king who took the sovereignty of Ireland and was supposedly located near the Hill of Tara in County Meath. Goirias or Gorias beared the Spear (sleg) of Lug, and no battle was ever sustained against it, or against the man who held it. From Findias there was a Sword (claideb/claiomh solais) which belonged to Núadu. No one ever escaped from it once it was drawn from its sheath, and no one could resist it. The sword is also described in the Tain legend as 'Nuadu's Cainnel' - a glowing bright torch. Finally, Muirias or Murias beared the Cauldron (coire) of the Dagda, from which no company ever went away from unsatisfied. Very usefull, indeed.

It looks like a landscape from the early days of Earth, but this wonderful set of geysers are current, real, and located in a secret farm near Gerlach, Nevada, USA. It was formed by accident in 1916, when a drilling procedure was made in the spot. Several years after, hot water began to escape from a weaker wall and the geyser erupted, launching a hot water and steam column into the open air. The dissolved minerals, as well as bacteria, accumulated and ended up forming the mount where the geyser rises upon, like a mini-volcano. Nowadays, the waterjet can reach up to 5m high. Five meters of awesome, I would say!

Here's something furry and flufly to brighten your thursday!The quokka (Setonix brachyurus), the only member of the genus Setonix, known in his natal country Australia as the Kangaroo Rat, is a small macropod about the size of a domestic cat. Like other marsupials in the macropod family (such as the kangaroos and wallabies), the quokka is herbivorous and mainly nocturnal. It can be found on some smaller islands off the coast of Western Australia, in particular on Rottnest Island just off Perth and Bald Island near Albany. A small mainland colony exists in the protected area of Two Peoples Bay Nature Reserve, where they co-exist with Gilbert's potoroo. It weighs 2.5 to 5 kilograms and is 40 to 90 centimetres long with a 25 to 30 centimetres (9.8 to 12 in)-long tail, which is fairly short for a macropod. It has a stocky build, rounded ears, and a short, broad head. Although looking rather like a very small kangaroo, it can climb small trees and shrubs. Its coarse fur is a grizzled brown colour, fading to buff underneath. The quokka has no fear of humans and it is common for it to approach them closely, particularly on Rottnest Island. It is, however, illegal for members of the public on Rottnest Island to handle the animals in any way. Which is kind of lame, I mean, look at how cute they can be! In the wild, its roaming is restricted to a very small range in the South-West of Western Australia, with a number of small scattered populations on the mainland, one large population on Rottnest Island and a smaller population on Bald Island near Albany. On Rottnest, quokkas are common and occupy a variety of habitats ranging from semi-arid scrub to cultivated gardens._ Although numerous on the small offshore islands, it has a very restricted range and is classified as vulnerable. On the mainland, where it is threatened by most introduced predatory species such as foxes, it requires dense ground cover for refuge. Clearfell logging and agricultural development has reduced this habitat, thus contributing to the decline of the species. The introduction of cats and dogs, as well as dingoes, has added to the problem, as has the clearing and burning of the remaining (swamp) lands. Moreover, Quokkas usually have a litter size of one and successfully rear one young each year. Although these animals are constantly mating, usually one day after their young is born, the small litter size paired with the restricted space and threatening predators contribute to the scarcity of these marsupials on the mainland.

Back in the days when England was beginning to colonize the New World, 1587 to be precise, an English colony was stablished in Roanoke island, nowadays part of North Carolina. Lead by John White, they went through several dificulties, which forced White to go back to England for supplies, leaving in Roanoke the other 113 settlers including his daughter Eleanor, her husband Ananias Dare, and their child - his granddaughter - Virginia. Due to several troubles, John White could only return to Roanoke three years later. When he finally arrived on the island, however, there was no one there, even though the sailors and White had seen smoke rising from the place the day before disembarking. All the settlers were never seen again. All that was left of them in Roanoke was an inscription in a tree which spelled "CROATOAN". A very strange true story.Skeptics believe the settlers left Roanoke to go to Croatoan, another island located south of Roanoke. White had agreed with the other settlers that, if they had to leave their colony, they would leave John a sign of where they went, which, then, could be Croatoan. The problem is: when White arrived in Croatoan, no one was there. Until today, no one knows for sure where did the settlers go, and poor John White never saw his family again. There are many crazy theories for what happened with them, and the one I like the most claims that "Croaton" is the name of an ancient Indian demon who, they say, vanished with the people to only God knows where. From this day on, Roanoke became the "Lost Colony".